Life of the Legendary Shinobi
by Godlybunny
Summary: A series of drabbles based on the Naruto universe, from the various viewpoints of the shinobi.  Mostly AU and chapters don't necessarily connect.  Second chapter: Sasuke
1. Naruto

**Well, it's been a while since I posted. This will just be a series of drabbles about various ninja in Naruto. I doubt most of it corresponds with canon, since most of what I know is from fan fiction. I literally have seen only about five episodes of Naruto, and about three from Shippuden, so I don't think you canon nerds out there will like it. I'm reasonably sure most of it is accurate, and since it's mostly AU it doesn't really matter.**

**This will only be updated whenever something is done, so don't be surprised if it doesn't update fast. I'll try to at least do the Konoha shinobi (i.e. Shikamaru, Hinata, Lee, etc), but no promises.**

**That's it for now. Sayonara.**

**~GB**

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><p>It was just so damn tiring.<p>

Uzumaki Naruto was a fighter. A survivor. He could be counted upon to win, to live, to be there for the people he cared about. He was perpetually cheerful, always with a smile on his face and never seemed to be bothered about anything.

Too bad it was just so damn hard.

Not all of it was fake. Truthfully, he was an extremely optimistic person, and he found it difficult to hold grudges. It was just who he was. He was still the cheerful goofball.

But that everlasting smile. Just a movement of cheek muscles. It was hard to believe that it could leave him, the stamina freak, exhausted by the end of the day.

Frankly, some days he didn't feel like grinning at all. The heated stares, the black whispering when they thought he couldn't hear. Before Pein, that had been his life.

And yet he'd kept up that boisterous grin. Why? Because he was Uzumaki Naruto, dattebayo! And by god, he wouldn't let something like that get to him! He'd made a promise to himself, at the tender age of six. He would become Hokage. He would protect his precious people, no matter what they did, and he would gain their respect.

That was his promise to the world. And he would never, ever go back on his word. Because that was his nindo. His way of life.

But even after becoming Hokage, after the hateul stares turned into looks of admiration, he still found it harder and harder to smile. Sure, he'd still do it. He'd be their leader, their protector, and their light in the darkness.

But each time he called up the council, or got together with his friends, or even walked down the street, it hit him like a sledgehammer.

One by one, his friends were leaving. Not willingly, of course. He knew they would lay down their lives for him, just as he would do the same.

And that was the problem.

To him, it seemed that each time he looked at his friends, there was always someone missing. One person less than the week before. One more person not sharing the companionship, the nights out, the laughing and the smiles.

One more person he had failed.

And what was he doing? Paperwork. It never ended. Sitting in his office, day in and day out. While he sat and stamped papers in order to keep his village running, his precious people were out there, dying for him.

He hadn't thought it would be that hard. Visions of being the Hokage in his childhood had been illusions of unleashing destructive jutsu with the hat of his office sitting proudly on top of his head. Even as he got older, seeing the paperwork, seeing the growing wrinkles and age lines of Jiji and Baa-chan, some little bit of that childish dream had stayed with him.

It hadn't been until he'd taken office when he'd realized being Hokage was 99.9% deskwork. He never saw the line of action, he couldn't fight to save his people or take action against those who hurt them. He had no real power, sitting behind that desk.

But at the end of the day, he was still Hokage. He was still the leader of the village. He was one of the most powerful ninja in the world, people looked to him for reassurance, and he was still the most important person in the village.

So he kept smiling. Kept that cheerful, invincible smile right there on his face. He remained an anchor, all while his precious people died in his name. He, Uzumaki Naruto, would be the best damn Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Because he would never go back on his word.

No matter how much he regretted it.


	2. Sasuke

**Here's another one. Again, probably not too accurate, and I'm not as confident about this one. Well, I wrote it in one go, and the only editing I've done was correcting some spelling errors since I typed this on my phone. Hope you enjoy.**

**~GB**

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><p>Darkness. It was the only thing he still kept comfort in. The dark couldn't take action against him. It was his only solace, the only place he felt he truly belonged.<p>

Before today he hadn't questioned his path much. He had prepared to sever all ties to the village. And truthfully, there really wasn't that much to deal with.

But that cheerful, irritating blond, that clinging pink-haired girl, that man with the mask and that eye. Why now? Why did they now have to haunt him? He thought he'd gotten over them. They were just obstacles to his power, he'd consoled himself. They didn't mean anything, only his brother mattered.

For six years, he'd remained steadfast on his path. Only considering how he could gain power, how to kill the man who had murdered his clan. His family. Nothing else had mattered. His priorities had been a tunnel vision pointed straight at Uchiha Itachi. He had been his only goal.

Then today, in the bright, early hours of the morning, he'd met Naruto. The blond had managed to track him down, intercepting his journey towards Konoha, and they'd exchanged blows. Trees had been uprooted, craters blown in the floor, rocks blown to bits, and blood had stained the clearing. They'd exchanged both physical and verbal attacks. Back and forth. All day long.

And then in a fit of anger, Naruto had unleashed all his anger into a verbal attack.

"So are you just going to wipe out Konoha the same way Itachi killed your family?"

_Black, relentless flames. Bodies lying everywhere, the stench of burning flesh and blood permeating the air. Dismembered limbs, scattered weaponry, unseeing eyes that no longer held the glow of the Sharingan._

_A young boy shaking his mother. "Kaa-san? Kaa-san!". Tears rolled down his cheeks, his eyes bloodshot and weepy. He turned to look as a shape materialized out of the fire. "Nii-san!" Then he took in the bloodied appearance of his brother, the sword clasped in one hand._

_And the head of his father clutched in the other._

_"Weak..." Itachi muttered, dropping the severed head almost robotically. His eyes landed on his brother, who stared almost entranced at the red and black pattern spinning in his eyes. _

_"Why?" he cried pathetically, his voice cracking as he stared at Itachi. "Why?"_

_"To test myself."_

His eyes widened, he took a step back. It was like being hit with a Rasengan. His breath hitched, his grip on his sword loosened, and he stared blankly in shock. The similarities were so glaringly obvious. How could he have missed it?

Was he so obsessed with power that he'd missed the fact that he was turning out to be Itachi?

And so he'd fled, leaving the blond behind and ducking into a deep cave, away from Naruto. Away from the snake sannin.

Away from everyone.

Which was more important? Itachi, or power? All these years, he had been purely focused on gaining power. Gaining skill. Gaining everything he needed to beat Itachi.

Never once thinking about what he had lost. Itachi, somehwere along the line, had become an excuse. He still needed revenge, but at some point he had ceased to be the goal, and had become an empty motivation.

_I must be stronger to beat Itachi. I must gain skill power to beat Itachi. I must have power to beat Itachi!_

He suddenly chuckled to himself, the bitter, empty sound echoing off the rocky walls. Look at him now. He was stronger, no doubt, and he had nearly mastered the sharingan. He was an elite ninja, with power and skill that could crush normal ninja.

But so was Naruto. Sakura too. Even Kakashi was stronger than he had been. And they still had the things he'd thought would weaken him. They had bonds, they had lives ahead of them. They had unquestionable allies, people that supported them, and comrades who would save them.

He had nothing. Only hatred and power.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. He was supposed to be the powerul one. He had planned on leaving his... friends in the dust, by ditching everything that weakened him and pursuing only power.

And, ironically, he had gained nothing and lost everything. Orochimaru, he knew, was planning on taking over his body at some point. Kabuto was so slick he didn't trust on principle. Karin wanted to rape him, if she had the chance.

Naruto had Sakura to support him. Hinata had the most unbelievable crush on him. He was taught by Jiraiya, the Toad Sage. He was best friends with the Kazekage. The Daimyo of Snow Country owed him more than a few favors. The list went on and on.

He'd lost everything. He knew that now. He had gained power by betraying Konoha, but Naruto had gained that and so much more. Had he made a mistake in leaving?

In the end, everything had changed. And yet nothing had changed. They were still the successors of the Sannin. The Toad Sage. The Medic Nin. And the Betrayer.

And there was no going back. The other two belonged in the light. And he was shrouded in darkness. In the beginning, he had made the decision to chase power, and damned the consequences.

And in the end, Uchiha Sasuke had achieved power, and had lost everything.


	3. Sakura

**Another one. Not much to say, again, not so confident about this. Either way, enjoy.**

**~GB**

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><p>She felt useless. Helpless, unable to change anything or protect what she cared for.<p>

It stemmed back from way back when, back when Team 7 had still been together, still a single unit and back when Sasuke had still been a Leaf-nin. As far back as their genin test with Kakashi, in fact. In hindsight, she had really only fainted at a genjutsu and had offered Naruto lunch. No actual effort to gain the bells, not even a legitimate attempt.

It was just Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. He had been the focus of her misguided world, and if she could travel back in time, there would be so much she would change. How much better could she be if she hadn't skimped on training? If she hadn't pressed herself on an illogical and possibly damaging diet?

The next example was the Wave mission. Sasuke and Naruto had fought back against the Kiri missing-nin. They had freed Kakashi from the water prison and stalled Zabuza. A week later, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and nearly died fighting that fake hunter-nin.

And Naruto had beaten him. Admittedly, he had used the power of the Kyuubi, but it didn't change the fact that she hadn't done _anything_. Haruno Sakura, proud genin of the Leaf, had cowered by their client with a kunai clutched uselessly in her hand. Logically, she knew protecting Tazuna was a priority.

It was just…well, if Zabuza had managed to get past Kakashi, she wouldn't have been able to do anything.

There were other examples. The chunin exams. Suna's and Oto's invasion.

Sasuke's abandoning of Konoha. She had stood there, pleading with him to come back, and he had taken her out with one blow. Hadn't even had a chance to fight back.

At the Valley of the End, it had been Naruto to nearly bring back Sasuke. What had she done?

Then she had become Tsunade's apprentice. Finally, she had something she could do. Sakura became a healer, a medic-nin. A more than proficient field medic and user of the Slug Sannin's enormous strength. She knew she was strong. There was no doubt in her mind that she was no longer the fangirl, the weak little kunoichi whose only objective was boys. She was a competent, no, scratch that. She was an elite ninja, more than powerful enough to at least take on a special jounin.

And then Team 7 had been reformed and she'd seen that she wasn't that great. Naruto had grown immensely during his training trip, and Sai was an ex-Root operative, which meant he was essentially ANBU level. She was by no means weak, but the power of her teammates overshadowed her in ways she found she disliked.

The feeling had mostly dissipated over the next few years, as they took missions and took on Akatsuki. Together, the Konoha 11 had taken down Uchiha Madara, and Sasuke had been successfully recovered, though he was still imprisoned and seemed to have lost most of his drive.

They had basically saved the world. They had defeated Akatsuki's attempt to take over the world and force peace. Madara's plans to enslave the world through the moon had been foiled. The village loved her, Naruto was Hokage, the Hidden Villages were slowly rebuilding their relations, and the world was no longer in danger.

And yet, as she started down at this patient, two years after the big events, she felt the unbearable feeling of uselessness return, like a relapsing plague. It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last. The man's gasping, pain-twisted face was etched into her memories, to never be forgotten. After all, there was nothing she could do.

Nothing.

Hadn't she been trained to save lives? Wasn't the entire purpose of her blood, sweat, and tears supposed to be to heal the wounded and save them from their fates? After all she had done, despite all her abilities and all of her efforts, there was still things she couldn't mend.

And she hated it.

Every time one of her patients died, she felt the same uselessness. Like she couldn't do anything except watch, just like those days way back when. Those moments reduced her to nothing more than an insect. Small, helpless, and ultimately unimportant. It ate away at her, knowing that she had helped her Hokage save the world, yet that there were still people under her care that she couldn't save. That, somehow, saving one person from a nasty infection and irreparable spinal and brain damage was more difficult than uniting the Hidden Villages against Akatsuki and Madara.

She watched the special Jounin shudder one last time, his body frantically gasping for one last breath. And then that was it. Silence. Stillness. A once loyal ninja, now just a cooling corpse, no less than a sack of meat. Her throat and stomach clenched at the sight. His blood still covered her hands, mixing with the tears flowing from her eyes.

Uselessness. Logically, she knew it was not so. But no matter what, each time she lost a patient the feeling would creep over her, suffocating her heart and bending her mind.


End file.
